Patent application Ser. No. 07/627,098 discloses toothbrushes having spring-mounted bristle holders. One embodiment described in that patent application includes a spring member in the form of a planar strip of elastic material integrally formed with a plurality of helically-extending springs underlying the bristle holders and effective to urge the bristle holders outwardly but to permit their inward movement during use of the brush.
The present application is directed to the spring member per se, since such a member is also capable of use in other applications, e.g., keyboards and the like. The present application also relates to the method of making such a spring member, to a method of making brush heads including such spring members, and to a keyboard including such a spring member.